Overview[]
On June 8, 2011, NATO Defence Ministers approved a revised NATO Policy on Cyber Defence — a policy that sets out a vision for efforts in cyber defence throughout the Alliance.
The revised policy will offer a coordinated approach to cyber defence across the Alliance with a focus on preventing cyber attacks and building resilience. All NATO structures will be brought under centralised protection, and new cyber defence requirements will be applied. The policy clarifies political and operational mechanisms of NATO's response to cyber attacks, and integrates cyber defence into NATO's Defence Planning Process. It also sets out the framework for how NATO will assist Allies, upon request, in their own cyber defence efforts, with the aim to optimise information sharing and situational awareness, collaboration and secure interoperability based on NATO agreed standards. Finally, the policy sets the principles on NATO’s cyber defence cooperation with partner countries, international organisations, the private sector and academia.
The new Policy provides a solid foundation from which Allies can take work forward on cyber security. The document clarifies both NATO's priorities and NATO's efforts in cyber defence — including which networks to protect and the way this can be achieved.